Haunted Maine: Beta Theta Pi House, Orono

This Halloween season, we searched the area to find haunted stories worthy of being told. At a fraternity house at the University of Maine, we not only found one story, but two. Chelsey Anderson has the story.Chelsey:”I went to the Beta Theta Pi House that is said to have a disgruntled fraternity brother and a protective house mother haunting the house.”———-Beta Theta Pi is well known for spirits in their house. Several ghost hunter associations have come in to do readings.Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “They came and said they got so much activity in this room and upstairs, but they said they were separate spirits.”Michael Pepin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “The paranormal society that was here last, they actually got spooked and they couldn’t be here past 11 o’clock.”As the story goes, the first spirit resides in the current House Advisor suite. Back in the 50’s, two of the brothers got into a fight and the brother that occupied the suite got kicked out of the fraternity.Jeff Sanford, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “He was so distraught about that he actually ended up hanging himself right in that room right there.”Jeff Sanford, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “They say you can hear him sometImes around this room and if you’re in that room. He’ll nip or pinch you or something like that.”Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “The door doesn’t really lock that often which is really weird. Lights go on and off in here.”Jeff Sanford, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “So that’s the story of the bad ghost.”Now the story of the friendly ghost, Evelyn. She was the house mother in the late 50’s. She was Beta Theta Pi’s last house mother after she died of natural causes in her bedroom on the third floor. Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “I’m the first brother in there for seven years.” “So you’re the brave one.” “It was a big single, so I wanted it.”Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “I was kind of nervous and on the occasion that I wake up at like 3 a.m. To just wake up and it’s dark in there, it’s a little unnerving.”The brothers believe her presence lives on.Michael Pepin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “I live on the second floor and I hear footsteps all the time and it’s not just because of him. It’s very, very light footsteps and it’s in between the walls.”Pete Christopher, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “A lot of times you’d be walking around late at night especially up on the third floor. And you’d see doors closing and windows would be open at random times.”The brothers think of Evelyn as a protective ghost, who often takes over motherly roles.Michael Pepin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “We’ve had numerous sightings where brothers have brought their girlfriends in there and she kind of acts like a test mother for us.”Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “You bring her in here at night, normally around midnight. It’s pitch black in here. You sit down on the floor and you ask, ‘Evelyn this is my girlfriend so and so. I really like her. She makes me feel very happy. I’m thinking of asking her to marry me. What do you think?'”Michael Pepin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “Either she would end up smiling or she would frown and have a really scared face because she would either give her the blessing or say she’s not good for the brother.”Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “It means so much to the brothers here to do that because she was our last house mother and she’s here for us. And just having your mother approve, you have your fraternal mother approve pretty much.”It’s said Evelyn even outed an unfaithful girlfriend when she was in the house watching TV with her boyfriend.Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “She starts screaming. She just runs out of the house, and the brother runs after her like what’s wrong, what’s wrong? She kept saying, ‘Evelyn was so mean to me. Evelyn was saying all this stuff about me. I have to be honest with you, I’ve been cheating on you.'”Joel Martin, UMaine Sr., Beta Theta Pi: “She loves being able to keep an eye on everyone.”—————Chelsey:”So, that just goes to show, not all ghosts have bad intentions. In part two of Haunted Maine, we’re talking about a cemetery where you’ll find a monument that, legend says, was cursed and marked by a witch.”